


BiBi Shorts

by stringly



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Post-Canon, Sunshine characters are mentioned and some may appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28045989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stringly/pseuds/stringly
Summary: A collection of one-shots for BiBi. Yes, they are related and post-canon.Ch.1 - CompanyCh.2 - Drunken hugsCh.3 - Sour and sweetCh.4 - Santa's strugglesCh.5 - Tea or Coffee?Ch.6 - Overworked
Relationships: Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi, Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico
Comments: 33
Kudos: 41





	1. Company

**Author's Note:**

> The relationship between BiBi is friendship, except for NicoMaki of course. The fics will probably all have an established relationship until I create one to show how all the couples got together so until then, expect to see what I hope will be mindless fluff.

Maki was making her way towards their temporary home. She had just finished her shift at the hospital the whole trio was supposed to tag along for, but due to Nico injuring her leg during her last charity performance, Eli had to stay behind to finish up the hospitals paperwork at home to look after her.

Maki sighed out loud for Nico's carelessness but was inwardly relieved that it wasn't that serious and could heal up in just a few days.

Their home was neither small and cramped or any fancy accommodation, but was just a normal apartment that the trio had rented because it was closer to where Nico's next performance was supposed to be. It had quite the homey feeling and reminded Maki of her own home. However, she didn't know why. When Maki was younger, she had come home to a luxurious, but empty, mansion. Nobody to keep her company. Nobody to welcome her home. She couldn't blame her parents. They had a job to do, a hospital to run. The chances that she did see her parents made her the happiest, but those days were the rarest. She knows they couldn't waste their time at home just for some unnecessary greetings. 

Upon reaching the door, Maki pulled the keys from out of her coat pocket, sliding the key in the hole and unlocking it before pushing the handle down and opening the door. As she walked in and closed the door behind her, the silence in the apartment didn't last long before she heard a chair topple over and a small quiet curse in Russian.

"Oh, is that you Maki?" She heard from behind the half opened door.

Blonde hair stuck out from the doorway to the side room before amethyst orbs met the azure gaze of her friend, Eli.

"Ah, welcome back Maki! I take it your shift didn't go too bad?" Eli asked, walking out the room to greet her friend. 

Maki was surprised to say the least by the welcome but not a second later, both girls heard the collision of a metal object hitting the hard wood floor, followed by a string of barely audible curses and muttering. 

Eli walked deeper into the apartment to see what the commotion was about before stopping at the end of the hallway that lead to the main living room.

"Nico, what are you doing? You know you need crutches to walk, why is it on the floor half way across the room?" She asked.

Maki heard Nico scoff, "Those useless objects just get in the way, I can just hop, its easier." A moment later, Maki heard the light thuds of footsteps echo through the corridor.

 _'Probably Nico hopping.'_ Maki thought.

"Was that Maki that just came in?" Nico questioned, making her way to the hall where her eyes found Maki's. "Oh, Nico-Ni welcomes you back to our home Maki~!" She said cheerfully, raising one of her hands to show her personal idol pose while her other held the wall for balance.

Maki was once again surprised by the greetings she received and was instantly reminded of the memories of wanting to come home to such cherished company. That feeling caused Maki to smile uncharacteristically kindly at the two girls before responding,

"I'm home."

Both Eli and Nico shared confused looks for a moment before smiling at eachother and back at Maki.

Now Maki knows why this apartment reminded her of her own home. It wasn't the longing to having fond greetings in her old mansion, but it was the feeling of having a loving family once again.


	2. Drunken hugs

"I can't believe this happened..." Maki complained as she attempted to walk through the door Nico had just opened for her.

Eli's arm was slung over the red-head's shoulder so she didn't make contact with the floor when she attempted to walk by herself, but this half failed as she managed to stumble into any wall she saw within a meter of herself on the way to their apartment even despite Maki helping her. Eli's constant moving caused both girls to struggle getting through the doorway before Maki eventually gave up.

"Here Nico, catch." Maki pushed Eli towards the other girl that was stood inside their apartment watching the other two attempt to wedge themselves through the door. The sudden command caught Nico off guard as she was surprised when she caught Eli as her face collided with Nico's chest.

"Oi! Warn me when you do that next time!" Nico whined.

"What? I just did. Stop complaining." Maki retorted.

"I meant earlier idio-" 

"Woah... The Great Plains is flatter than I expected..." Eli muttered, cutting Nico off, loud enough for both girls to hear. Maki chuckled quietly to herself as she watched the quarter Russian's drunken words not being left forgotten by the now deadly staring Nico Yazawa.

Maki turned to push the door closed then looked back at Nico once she knows the girl's murderous intent is creeping in.

Attempting to put a stop to the killing she knows Nico will eventually get to, she decides to grab the drunken Eli, still mumbling something about grassy fields, and leads her to the couch.

"There, now lie down. I can't believe you were careless enough to get drugged at that party. Luckily we finished hosting before the drug actually kicked in so you weren't a total dead weight." She reminded, "I swear we'll need to fire that crazy 'Dia' lady soon, she fancies you a bit too much." Maki finished, pushing Eli's shoulders down so that she could rest her head against the couch pillows and attempt to sleep.

"I didn't see her put anything in the drink, okay? I'm sorry, I was pretty careless... I didn't mean for this to happen. I'll be more cautious next time, I swearr..." Eli pouted sadly, dragging on the last word almost like a scolded child. She was a pretty reasonable person once she was drunk, but that was probably the only good thing about her in that state.

Nico took off her fur coat and fluffy scarf, hanging it up on the coat rack before silently complaining about how Eli indirectly insulted her breast size and how she mistaken it for a grassy field just because of the fluff on her clothing. During her grumbling, she moved to stand next to Maki.

Once Eli had actually lied down, she shifted in the couch, turning as if trying to get into a more comfortable position. Nico and Maki watched, as if waiting for something to happen. After a while, the blonde gave up moving. "I'm not tired! Nico, Maki!! I'm wide awake!" Eli whined, looking at the girls and flailing her hands everywhere as if it would help emphasise her point.

Maki almost full body eyerolled, not wanting to babysit someone older than her while Nico sighed at her outburst, having known what it feels like taking care of a drunk Eli. 

She remembers the mountains of vodka and other strong alcohol beverages the blonde had to chug down to finally become drunk. She was Russian after all so she just downed it like it was water. It was in her blood to not get drunk that easily, but Eli had just lost someone close to her so she _needed_ to get smashed in order to temporarily forget the pain. At the time, Nico endured the drunk mess as pity, but now she was just full on disgusted with what would be awaiting her in the next few minutes.

"I'll go get her more water." Nico sighed, walking towards their kitchen area.

"You mean above the litre she drank in the car?" Maki questioned, recalling the numerous attempts Eli had taken just to put her mouth around the top of the bottle and even more so just to swallow.

"Did she even drink any of that? I'm pretty sure it went all over my poor Cutie Panther's seats!" Nico said, grabbing a glass out of a cabinet and filling it with water from the tap.

"Don't call our red car that, please. It was cringey enough you deciding we should name it in the first place." Maki facepalmed.

"Hah! Tomatomobile!" Eli laughed at her own description of the car, earning a slight displeased look from Maki and a smirk from Nico.

"Hey, hey. Maki..." Eli now changed her tone to a whisper. "Come here." She said, talking as if wanting to share a secret with the other girl.

Maki reluctantly moved closer to the blonde, crouching to her side before stopping once she heard Nico shout from behind the counter of the kitchen.

"Oh! Maki, by the way. If Eli asks you to come closer, do not do it. I swear the last time I did I almost died." Unfortunately, Nico was unaware of how Eli had asked Maki and had her back turned to both girls so she didn't notice how Maki had moved closer. The warning was useless as Eli had already snaked her arms around Maki's underarms, trapping her in a hug.

"Hug!" Eli playfully shouted, tightening her grip on the Maki now completely stuck between Eli and her arms.

"H-Hey! Let go, you lunatic!" Maki said, losing her breath with every word due to how tight Eli was clutching her.

Nico turned and walked towards the girls before finally realising the situation. "What did I just say!?" Nico asked before rushing up to help the redhead escape. She put the glass down on the table before grabbing one of Eli's arms and prying them away from Maki's back so she could escape.

Once Maki struggled free of the blondes clutches, she went ahead and took a few steps back to make sure she didn't get caught again.

"You could have told me sooner! I swear she almost broke my bones with how tight she held me!" Maki complained.

Eli looked unsatisfied with how she had nothing to hug anymore.

"Hey, it isn't the great Nico Nii's fault your reflexes are just that slow!" Nico responded, displeased at the blame put on her and the scoff she received after her last sentence. She then grabbed the glass of water she was meant to give Eli. "Here Eli, drink this."

After watching Eli's miserable efforts to sit up for a bit, but failing, Nico positioned one hand under Eli's head and lifted it slightly, using her other to bring the water to her mouth so Eli could tilt her head to drink instead. The hair tie from Eli's signature ponytail had long since fallen out during their car ride home, so her golden hair was now sprawled out on the couch.

The glass of water was slowly emptied, and once it was, Nico put the glass back onto the table behind her. As Nico stood up she was surprised, but shouldn't have been, when Eli suddenly wrapped her arms around her.

"Hug!" The familiar phrase echoed through the apartment as the smaller girl was brought into another tightening hold, tighter than the last one she experienced, probably due to the fact that Eli had gotten stronger over the years, but now Nico didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Oi! You'll crush me! H-Hey, a little help over here Maki!" Nico pleaded, trying to break free from Eli's grasp.

Maki hesitated a little, not wanting to get stuck in the hold again. But she did want to help her girlfriend, she was a little jealous of the fact Eli got to hug Nico while she just stood and watched.

It was then that an idea struck her. "Nico, I know how we can avoid all this."

"What? How?" Nico questioned, still struggling against Eli's grip.

"We call _her_ over." 

Nico had to think for a bit before understanding what she was referring to. "Oh hell no. We aren't letting that monster anywhere near here."

"Oh, come on Nico. We also won't have to take care of Eli." Maki persuaded, sighing in relief once she saw the reasonable expression Nico had.

Thinking there were more advantages than disadvantages, Nico eventually agreed, "Ok fine, anything to get me out of this bear hug."

Maki sent a text to the person that was meant to help them out before she went over to help Nico get out of Eli's hold. Her grip was stronger than when she held Maki, probably because she was now prepared and expecting someone to take the thing she was now hugging away from her.

It took the two girls and their joint efforts as well as struggles a whole 20 minutes to finally move Eli's arms slightly so Nico could slip away from her grip. That girl works out way too much for Nico and Maki to call it her own good but it did have its advantages when she was caught up in something that required a bit of strength. Its absolute hell when its used on them though.

Eli grunted at the loss of something to snuggle against again and started to whine, hitting her legs against the couch like an impudent kid while Nico and Maki had already moved further away from the blonde as caution.

Maki checked her phone again to see if she had gotten a message back. She did in fact, it was an almost instant reply from when she sent it. "She said she is on her way." Maki informed Nico as she went ahead and texted the person again to let them know that the door was unlocked.

"Great..." Nico responded.

The message showed 'read' almost 3 seconds later before the sound of the front door opened.

"Wait she is here already?" Nico asked.

The girls heard footsteps of someone coming from the now closed front door, moving closer towards them. Then, the sight of purple hair in the hallway caught the attention of all the girls, including Eli.

Eli's face lit up at who had walked into the room and her whining as well as leg banging stopped. "Nozomiii~!" She called in sickeningly sweet delight.

"Evening ladies! ...and Nicocchi!" Nozomi said cheerfully while stopping at the entrance of the living room, hearing a grunt from the shorter girl at her arrival.

"Aww, does Nicocchi not want me here? You break my heart..." Nozomi sniffled, but still had that grin that was basically plastered to her face every time she was surrounded by the trio. "I was clearly invited with that desperate text Maki-chan sent!"

"Hmph, whatever... Welcome to our abode." Nico responded, clearly bothered by her presence, but she wasn't unhappy with her being here. She had to admit, the older girl was nice to be around. Annoying, but nice.

As Eli attempted to get up to greet the woman standing at the hallway, she somehow managed to roll off the edge of the couch instead, causing her to crash onto the floor, earning all eyes on her.

"My, is Elichi that excited to see me~?" Nozomi asked teasingly. Eli only looked up to Nozomi and nodded her head furiously, mumbling 'mhmm!' over and over. "Careful, you could hurt yourself with that eagerness of yours." She said, laughing a little at the sight of the normally composed Eli now lying on the floor, looking at her like a puppy seeking some much wanted attention.

"She's all yours Nozomi. I still have work I need to do." Maki said, walking to the hallway before looking back at Nico. "Are you coming?" She asks.

Nozomi raised a suggestive eyebrow as she looked between the two, her trademark mischievous smile smeared her face in a matter of seconds. "Can't contain yourself Maki-chan? I'll understand if you guys make louder noises than usual, but don't be too loud. I want to be able to put Elichi to sleep tonight."

"Oh my god, do you have to sexualise everything? And what do you mean 'than usual'? You've never heard us doing it in the first place!" Nico said, walking over towards where Maki was, both their cheeks tinted with a bit of pink due to the topic they were discussing.

"Is that so? I remember tagging along on one of your shifts at the hospital... To the nursery section, was it?" Nozomi suggested. Both of them froze. Maki visibly stiffened, averting her eyes from both Nico and Nozomi while the other stopped mid-walk, hoping Nozomi didn't continue. "Well at least I think it was you guys in the children's bathroom... Me, Elichi and the kids heard so much commotion and high pitched noises coming from behind those closed doors." Nozomi smiled, holding back her laughter. "You have no idea how long it took for Elichi to convince the children that you were just playing 'cops and robbers'." She added.

Once her eyes landed on Maki's face, seeing it redder than her hair and catching Nico's embarrassed trembling, she couldn't contain her laughter anymore and she burst out giggling, with Eli following not long behind her. The blonde girl had no clue what was being said but once she saw her own girlfriend laughing with such amusement, it made the girl want to join in.

During Nozomi's outburst of laughter, Nico carried on trudging towards the bedroom door, dragging a fully flushed Maki along the way. They hadn't actually planned on doing it, they needed to inform Tsubasa about an upcoming concert Nico had planned to put on and wanted to have a collaboration with A-rise to help further the popularity of the event.

Nozomi watched the two go behind a now closed door, but decided not to tease because she knew the girls had an actual job to do. Once her own laughter died down, she placed her bag to the side of the room before looking back at Eli who was still lying on her stomach, head resting in the hands that were supported by her elbows. She was smiling and laughing giddily at the purple haired girl. Nozomi's little blush was unnoticeable to Eli as she just smiled back at her, thinking to herself how she has just discovered a new charm of the blonde's. Eli's quiet giggles eventually stopped, but her smile widened now that she had the attention of the one person she loved the most.

Nozomi made her way towards Eli, bending down and crouching in front of the girl. Eli's wide smile not wavering once as she looked up to Nozomi.

"Lets sit you back up, shall we?" Nozomi said, listening to Eli 'mmh!' cheerfully in agreement.

She took Eli's shoulders in her hands and supported her as the other attempted to sit up.

Once Eli was sat up with her back against the couch effectively supporting her, Nozomi decided to sit next to Eli on the floor. Eli watched with eager eyes as her lover settled next to her. She waited a bit before slipping one of her arms behind the girl's back and the other around her front. Both hands pulling at the other side of the girl's waist as slowly and as gently as her drunken mind could allow her, tenderly embracing her.

"Hug..." Eli said softly, resting her head against the side of Nozomi's shoulder.

Eli was a lot gentler now that she had Nozomi in her embrace. She was always gentle when it came to Nozomi. She believed Nozomi deserved the best, and only the best kind of treatment.

"So this is what you wanted all along, huh?" Nozomi asked quietly. "I hope you didn't bother Nicocchi and Maki-chan that much." She continued, wrapping one of her own arms around the side of the girls head and stroking the loose blonde hair softly.

Eli only hummed in satisfaction at the feeling of Nozomi's warmth surrounding her, and snuggled further into the girl.

The two girls stayed in that same position for only a minute longer before Nozomi heard the lighter breathing of the other girl. She looked down a bit to see Eli with her eyes closed and lips only slightly parted.

Her eyes softened at the view of her girlfriend and she leaned closer, pressing her lips against the side of Eli's forehead. After she slowly pulled away, she then rested her own head atop Eli's, content with sleeping in that position for the rest of the night.

She wasn't aware of the two heads peeking out of the bedroom door, smiling at the sight. Although Nico and Maki had concluded that Kanan was a bad influence on a Eli, they decided that maybe having Nozomi around to deal with the clingy Eli wasn't that bad either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a few BiBi fics mid-August but couldn't find anywhere I wanted to post them. Then I found ao3, and I can tell you that the stories ive read so far are actually really amazing and so are most of the comments ive seen people post. You guys are awesome :D
> 
> Also more of these fics will be coming soon, after I edit them and proofread them all that is.


	3. Sour and sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like nicmak

"Are you kidding me?" Nico thought aloud, the stress on her face clearly showing from her spot sat down in the drivers seat of the car.

"Whats wrong?" Eli asked from the back.

"Shit..." She sighed, "There's no more gas." She responded, pulling over to the road's hard shoulder. 

"Didn't I tell you to refill that a week ago!?" Maki growled from the front passenger seat, her already irritated mood growing each second the car began to slow down.

Eli turned to her side and begun rummaging through one of the many grocery bags near the seat beside her before grabbing a bottle from out of it. She scooched over to the car door, opening it once the vehicle came to a halt and stepped out.

"Shut up! I had to use it all again because you know what those crazed fans are like!" Nico exclaimed, her temper worsening with every word out of Maki's mouth.

"Then why didn't you fill it up again!?"

"I forgot okay!?" She turned to look back at Eli. "Eli what the hell are you doing?!" She asked, her tone still as loud, but a confused look adorned her and Maki's face soon after once they saw what Eli was doing. They saw her pouring what looked like half a gallon of vodka in the gas tank.

"Is she...?" Maki started but decided not to finish, feeling rather dumbfounded at what she was witnessing. 

Eli had soon come back into the comforts of the warm car, closing the door behind her and placing the now empty bottle away into one of the bags. "Okay now drive!"

"What!?" Nico responded.

Eli eyerolled, "Long story short, both gas and vodka contain ethanol. Now go!"

Nico and Maki both shared the same confused look that basically said, 'I'm curious as to how she found out this actually works but I'm not gonna question it because first, she's part Russian, and second, we're in a hurry'. 

The look was soon broken off by Maki's sudden "Hmph" as she decided to look the other way in the direction of the car window, her hair flick missing Nico's face by a few inches. Nico clicked her tongue at Maki's childish nonsense, not missing the look of Maki's now grump face. She wasn't even surprised when the engine came back on, fuelled by the vodka as she pulled back onto the road.

Eli sat and watched the scene unfold, her quiet sigh not being heard as the car began to drive back into the swarm of the usual rush hour traffic.

As they finally arrived at their apartment complex, both Nico and Maki had already stormed out the car, leaving poor Eli behind to carry all of the shopping. Eli doubted it was intentional however, she probably thought they were too busy thinking about their silent arguement and wanted to console some sort of comfort within their home. 

And she was right.

Nico practically charged towards their bedroom's direction first, locking the door just incase Maki had any intentions of getting inside herself. However, Maki had already marched past the door and into the living room, collapsing onto their soft couch. 

She thought back, recalling the events that had happened an hour or two before where they are now.

It turned out that Nico's performance with A-rise had gathered a lot more popularity than expected, meaning another increase in her already huge fanbase. They had all went shopping after Nico had picked Eli and Maki up from their shifts at the hospital and were surprised to see a group of girls stood outside the store talking about whatever girls talk about these days but suddenly recognising the trio and coming up to them. Many of them however, were unusually attached to the one and only Nico-Nii. This obviously irritated Maki as they were stuck to her throughout most of their browsing through the store, complimenting her and practically flirting with her while Nico only complimented and flirted with herself in return. Although Nico wasn't technically chatting them up, it still annoyed Maki as to why Nico wasn't pushing them away, and when they finally had to leave, slight relief washed over Maki before it was ruined with absolute disgust as she watched one of the girls bending down slightly to kiss Nico on the cheek right in front of her. That had done it for Maki and before she could start a scene infront of the many other people and families there, Eli physically pulled Maki away from them and into another aisle while Nico all but said, 'It must be a huge honour for you to do that to the great Nico-Nii!' Maki knew that Nico wasn't at fault for anything but she couldn't help but get angry at what she'd just witnessed.

Maki's thoughts were soon interrupted by the constant sound of someone attempting to stumble through the doorway of their home. A clatter and bang later, Maki got up and walked to the hallway, noticing her blonde friend holding 3 large shopping bags against her chest with her arms and 2 others with her hands. Her head was attempting to peer down through the bags covering her face to look at the floor, eyeing the brown recycle paper bag that she must have dropped.

"Phew! Okay... Not the eggs. Thats good." Maki heard Eli whisper to herself.

"Oh Eli, sorry. Let me help." Maki suggested, realising she should probably help her and walked out to pick up the dropped bag and taking two more from Eli's arms.

"Aha... Thanks. I hope Nico won't mind I disrespected her new clothes." She responded, waiting for Maki to say something snarky about her comment, but the reply never came. Eli pushed the door shut with her foot and followed the red-head into the living room. Maki seemed unusually quiet.

Placing the bags onto the table, Maki went back over to the couch and slumped over it again. Her limp body not going unnoticed by Eli.

The quarter Russian walked over to Maki once she placed her own bags away and tapped her leg. "At least take off your shoes."

Maki grudgingly complied, forcing her shoes off with her feet as they both fell to the floor, her head not lifting up from her face down on the pillows.

Eli sighed and took the girl's shoes. She had the basic gist of what was going on inside Maki's head. She was jealous that a girl had kissed Nico and that she hadn't even pushed them away. Both the girls new that Nico treasured her fans greatly, so Maki knew that she shouldn't be starting any trivial arguments, but she couldn't help but get mad. Eli understood her pain, having given the same silent treatment for a little while after realising that there were other people in the world that liked Nozomi. But it seemed like Maki's case was far more intense. The trio knew of Maki's inability to properly express her feelings and understood that if Maki didn't even understand her own feelings herself, she would probably stay quiet. 

From Eli's time surrounded by the two, she only guessed that the most important thing Maki wanted to do would be to apologise, but after a couple of arguments from the store and during their ride home, she knew that it wouldn't be easy.

"Hey Maki. Want to help me make dinner today?" She proposed. In her mind, she started to plan out little situations and gestures that would help make Maki look more reliable, hoping it would swoon Nico enough to get them to talk to each other again.

"Huh? Why me? Why not Nico?" She asked, raising and turning her head towards Eli.

"Well wouldn't you want to surprise Nico with a dinner? She did say she had a long day at practice today so I'm sure she's tired." Eli suggested, hoping it would convince Maki enough to help.

Maki wearily hummed in thought, "Fine..." She unenthusiastically agreed. "J-Just so you know, I'm not doing this for Nico's sake or anything." She quickly added. "Its just because you have nobody to cook with and I don't want you feeling lonely."

 _'Ah, there she is.'_ Eli thought. 

"Harasho, lets get to work then!" She said, pushing a now stood-up Maki towards the kitchen.

To say the cooking was a struggle would be an understatement. Eli had to multitask having Maki pick what kind of foods she wanted to prepare because if she had picked herself, there would be at least _a lot_ of Russian cuisine on the menu, and as much as Eli loved it, she wanted to show Nico that Maki had mainly made the food instead. 

Eli also had to keep an eye on whatever Maki was doing, although the girl was trained to do all kinds of surgery with precise hands, she hadn't the slightest idea on how to cook. Eli's tasks mainly consisted of manning the frying pan while also keeping Maki away from putting tomatoes in the microwave. Eli let her do it the first time to help liven the girl's mood, but after watching it explode in there once, Eli had Maki clean it up, only for her to add another tomato inside, and for it to explode again. 

The only sounds inside the kitchen were Eli's annoyed groans as she had taken out the 9th tomato placed inside of the microwave. 

A gruesome one and a half hours later, the dinner was finally done. Eli had to secretly unplug the microwave to stop a now confused Maki from exploding anymore tomatoes. Eli honestly had no idea if Maki liked watching the sight of tomatoes explode or if she was just transfixed on cleaning, probably the former, but she didn't care. Dinner was done and that was all that mattered.

"Okay!" Eli exhaled tiredly, untying her messy apron and hanging it up on the wall. All the plates filled with food were on the kitchen counter, waiting to be placed on the table. A table which wasn't set.

Another step on Eli's plan was to get Nico flowers. Both girls knew how much Nico liked sweet things, so what would be sweeter than getting a girl some flowers? 

Eli thought for a moment about going out and getting them herself, but she knew Maki might be feeling slightly guilty that she was doing all the work, so she looked back at Maki, their eyes meeting.

"Do you know what I'm going to ask you?" Eli questioned. She wanted to be sure that Maki was able to do things on her own without her having to tell her what to do whenever they had gotten into an argument. 

Eli had saved their arguments a few times before and had started knowing what both of them liked by asking the person guilty about starting their argument about what they thought the other person might want or would feel like having.

"I have money in my pocket, I'll go." Maki responded, taking off her own even messier apron and tossing it onto the hanger.

Eli smiled at the sight of Maki walking out of the front door. She seems a bit happier. If it was from watching the tomatoes exploding or being one step closer to getting on Nico's good side again, she didn't know, but she was glad her friend was feeling slightly more positive than before. She turned back to the plates on the counter, deciding to set up the table while waiting for Maki to return from her short journey to the flower shop.

Maki browsed the neighbouring flower shop carefully, reading all the signs shown below the flowers. 

"Anything in particular you're looking for, Miss?" A voice called out from behind her.

Maki was startled a bit, jumping back from the voice and looking at the now surprised employee. 

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" She apologised, waving her hands infront of her face.

"Uhh, no it's okay, I wasn't expecting you is all." Maki responded, her shock soon disappearing at the offer she heard. "Do you know any flowers that help say 'I'm sorry' or something?" She asked.

"Huh..." The employee looked thoughtful for a moment, her face soon perking up as ideas presumably came to her mind. "There are quite a few actually! Here follow me, I'll show you to some!"

"I'm home." She called from the front door to their apartment. 

Eli soon came round the corner, stopping at the top of the hallway. "Welcome back Maki. That was quick, I just finished setting up the table. Did you pick the right ones you wanted?"

"I did." She responded. 

The door in between the two of them soon swung open, and a rather tired looking Nico walked out clad in her pajamas. 

"Is it time for me to cook now?" A worn out Nico asked.

"Nope!" Eli responded, striding over to where Maki was standing. "Maki over here made dinner for all of us for a change!" She said, pushing said girl's back closer to Nico.

"Huh!? What do you mean me? You more or less did it by yourse-" Maki started but was cut off when she was practically shoved into Nico's direction. She had to bring the flowers she was holding at her side behind her back to make sure they didn't get squished, even if she wasn't that close to Nico.

Maki was now stood infront of a confused looking Nico, Eli was nowhere in sight. 

"You made us dinner?" She asked, watching Maki nod nervously. "Its not going to give us food poisoning again is it?"

"Eli helped make it with me... We should be fine..." Maki responded in a quiet tone, bringing the flowers from behind her to shove into Nico's hands. "Here." 

"Eh?" Nico voiced, her eyes trailing down to the bouquet with a range of white and pastel pink tulips in her hands.

Although she had limited knowledge about the flower language, she did know some information about the tulips. White tulips meant something about forgiveness while just the tulips itself represented something about a deep adoration. 

It was hard to ignore someone so bad at emotions trying to be so sweet, and Nico felt her cheeks heating up from the thoughtful gift Maki gave her. 

She brought the flowers up to her face, hiding her small smile and mumbling a small "Thanks..." as she disappeared back into her room, probably to put the flowers away somewhere while Maki just stood there, slightly entranced by the sight of an almost speechless Nico shying away from her.

"Hurry up, or the dinner will get cold!" A voice shouted from the living room. The door infront of Maki opened once again and soon, Maki found herself being pulled by Nico, hand in hand, to the table. She managed to catch the slight smile and shade of pink dusting the smaller girl's face and cheeks, the same look reflecting her own blush of a face.

The dinner had managed to flow out smoothly, with Eli nudging Maki whenever she said anything that might be too dangerous to say so soon, or whenever she might be referring to the event that started their whole argument. 

By the end of dinner, Maki had (involuntarily) chosen to wash the dishes. Her messy apron was back on and the echo of the TV playing from the living room was all she could hear, other than the constant running of the tap in front of her. 

Half way through cleaning the pile of used dishes, she looked next to her at the other half that were soaped, washed and left to dry on the rack. Deciding her chore was too boring to carry on, she went ahead and turned around, preparing to dry her own hands with the towel so she could take a break, but only bumped into Nico in the process, wetting the girl's shirt with her hands.

"Oh, oops." Maki uttered, stepping away slightly.

"Sorry." Nico responded, slight guilt shown on her face.

"Huh? Why are you saying sorry? I'm the one that bumped into you and got you a little wet."

"No, I mean..." Nico started, "I'm sorry. For not pushing them away."

Maki immedietly stood surprised, but attentive, at Nico's words. Wasn't she the one who was supposed to apologise?

Nico carried on, "While I was in our room, I was thinking about why you were getting so mad. I didn't think you had a problem with the fans getting so close to me. I'm sorry, I should have limited them to admiring only..."

"No!" Maki yelled, startling the girl as she enveloped her in a hug, dampening Nico's shirt even more.. "I'm the one that should say sorry! I got so irritated over something I know you have full control over... I know you wouldn't let them do anything too extreme but I couldn't help but get annoyed! I was being overdramatic, starting a petty arguement over nothing..." She said, tightening her arms on Nico's own upper arms.

Nico stood shocked for a moment, registering Maki's rare apology. As it slowly sunk in, she brought up her own hands and wrapped them under and around her shoulders. "Silly, I'm the petty one for not noticing you'd get jealous and because I thought you were being your usual clingy self, I dragged it on, hoping you'd lose interest because I was too tired from practice to care about anything and just wanted to go to sleep." Nico smiled, noting how cute Maki was when she was being honest.

"Hey! I'm not clingy!" She said, moving away from Nico but still held her in an embrace. She clutched Nico's pajama shirt tighter in her hands, unwilling to let go.

"Oh yeah? Then why aren't you letting go?" Nico smirked.

"W-Well... I don't see you letting go either!" Maki retorted, the blush seeming more visible on her face now.

Nico's smirk turned soft once more. Her hands moved to slide around Maki's neck instead while the other girls fell around her waist. "We're all good now then?" She asked.

Although their arguement was clearly already over, they had always asked if they were on good terms or not in previous arguments to clarify that there were no more hard feelings between the both of them.

"Mhmm." Maki responded, adding even more assurance by dipping her head down slowly.

Nico understood, her own head tilted upwards and she lifted herself up slightly on her tiptoes.

As their lips met, they didn't hear the figure once leaning on the other side of the wall next to the kitchen now move away to leave. 

The argument had ended with a kiss and Eli returned to the living room, only hoping to herself that the dishes would be washed sometime this week.

Now it was 4am in the morning and Eli still couldn't get a wink of sleep from the constant bed banging on her wall from the room next door. She is currently debating whether or not to help them the next time they get into another argument if this is the end result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oho, Nico's shirt wasn't the only thing wet that night, nono!


	4. Santa's struggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli suffers some more

"...Alright fine, but I expect my 'payment' to be tripled." Eli said with clear irritation over the phone, before hanging it up and sighing out loud. 

She couldn't believe what Nico was asking of her. That girl should be lucky Eli was that one friend that would put all her activities aside just to help out her friends. But this time she felt almost humiliated. She didn't see the need in doing what Nico had asked. _'What the hell is that girl planning?'_ She thought.

\---

It had been a few days since that phone call, and now it was Christmas Eve. Nico had given the necessity piece for her surprise for Maki to Eli who was supposed to use it at midnight. 

Nico had tasked Eli with putting the presents everyone had gotten for each other around and underneath the christmas tree, and sign them with 'From Santa'. Of course Eli could understand this much: Nico wanted to keep Maki's last childhood belief safe. However, she didn't know why Nico wanted Eli to do it wearing a full-on Santa suit. It's not as if Maki was going to wake up in the middle of the night just to watch Santa sort his stuff and eat her somehow burnt mince pies. The only reason Eli agreed to doing this was because of the payment she would be receiving.

Now she stood there with a sack swung over her back, a red hat on her head and a somewhat fitting Santa costume. Eli immediately knew Nico had asked Kotori to make the outfit for her. There was also a removable cushion piece for Santas belly, but there was no way Eli was going to wear that. _'Why would Nico go through all this effort if I'm not even going to be seen?'_

It was around 10 minutes until midnight that Eli finally decided that she would wear the white beard that had come as a requirement from Nico for the costume. The beard managed to cover most of her face. All that was exposed were her cheeks, eyes, forehead and naturally, her long flowing golden blonde hair. She didn't look one bit like the sexy Santa she had thought Nico asked of her.

Maki stirred in her sleep, changing positions every time she heard Nico speak. It wasn't until she processed the girl's words that she finally sat up straight almost instantly and turned towards Nico who was sitting next to her.

"What!?" Maki hurriedly whispered. "What do you mean you think Santa-san is here!?" She whispered again, more excitedly. Maki couldn't contain the giddily smile on her face knowing Santa might be at one of her vacation homes delivering presents.

"I don't know Maki, you were a pretty good girl this year... Think of all the people you've helped and saved." Nico convinced, a small smirk playing at the side of her lips.

"That's not what I meant! There is no way Santa-san is here! How do you know?" She asked.

"Why don't you be quiet and listen." Nico suggested, gesturing towards the half-open door so Maki could listen for herself.

They both stayed silent for a bit, staring at the door. It wasn't until both girls heard the clattering of objects hitting what sounded like a box, then stopping momentarily as if something was being placed on the floor that Maki perked up once again, looking back at Nico with a wide smile.

"Do you want to go see Santa?" Nico finally questioned the now unusually energetic girl.

"Is that really okay?" Maki asked, almost too eagerly. She slipped off the blanket covering her legs and hopped onto the floor.

"I'm sure Santa won't mind." Nico responded, sliding her legs off the side of the bed and joining the now tiptoeing Maki, creeping towards the door.

"What a waste..." Eli said as she poured the plate of black mince pies into the trash before placing the plate back down on the table, leaving a 'thank you' note in hopes it would make Maki happier in the morning.

Eli shivered at the light draft she felt behind her coming from the fireplace Maki had left open, sighing when a childish Nico thought popped into her head. _'I really hope she doesn't expect me to climb up in that. I'm not putting on some sort of show.'_ Eli thought, not hearing the small slow footsteps on the carpet coming from the other room.

Eli then strode towards the christmas tree, admiring the placement of presents and making sure to leave the ones wrapped in pink wrapping paper at the back so they would have more 'impact', as she was told, when opened.

She then decided that it was about time to call it a night, and she should rest, hopefully thinking about ways to change her helping habits.

It wasn't until she heard the slight gasp from the doorway that she was brought out of her thoughts, and she turned around to become the center of attention to a now beaming red-head.

Eli froze on the spot. It felt like if she moved, her cover would be blown. Thank god for Santa's beard to cover up her face. _'What the hell is she doing up!?'_ Eli inwardly panicked. _'Does she do this every year!?'_

It wasn't until she spotted Nico walking around the corner, stopping slightly, wearing a comforting smile and giving a small wink that she knew this was part of her plan. Eli slowly unstiffened and waited for Nico to start whatever she needed to do.

When Nico had spotted Eli tense up, she thought that she might be scared for a moment to carry out her plan, but once she saw her relax a bit, she felt relieved.

That feeling soon evaporated once she realised that the silence was going on for far too long, and she started to wonder what was wrong. Eli was looking at her as if she was expecting something. This gave her the sudden realisation that she had completely forgotten to tell Eli about her plan. Nico was too excited about thinking of a nice idea to get Maki happy for Christmas that she only ranted about how great she was over the phone and managed to forget to relay the overall details of her plan to Eli.

After she was slapped in the face with her own stupidity, she then realised that Eli wasn't even properly dressed to play her part of Santa. _'Where the hell is Santa's belly piece? And why is her blonde hair exposed!?'_ She thought, simultaneously thinking of a way to tell Eli to play along.

Nico looked around the room, remembering something she had placed as a decoration that would hopefully make Eli take the hint. Her eyes landed on a small Santa plushie toy that was sticking out of a christmas stocking hung on the wall. Nico subtly pointed at Eli, without drawing Maki's attention, then pointed back towards the plush, gesturing between both of them.

Eli stood a little confused at what Nico was trying to tell her. Having the added pressure of being stared at by a rather glowing Maki wasn't helping either. Eli focused on the Santa toy for quite a while before realising what Nico was trying to tell her. _'Does she really think I can play off being Santa **now!?** I look nothing like him!'_ She thought before looking back at the still shining Maki. _'Okay scratch that, this girl is completely convinced.'_

There was quite a long and awkward silence (for Eli and Nico), before it was broken by Maki.

"Uhm... S-Santa-san... I would like to start off by saying t-thank you for all the presents you leave me every year..." She stuttered, shuffling on the spot nervously.

She brought her hand up to her head before grabbing a few strands of hair in between her fingers and started swirling it around slowly before carrying on. "I really appreciate it... so, thank you!" Maki beamed, her smile so bright Eli swears she was going to go blind.

It wasn't until Nico heard the stand-in Santa talk that she instantly regretted picking a Russian for the job.

"Hara-" Eli started until she realised she shouldn't blow Santa's cover, "sho-ho-ho." She finished in a deeper voice, clearly satisfied with her save.

Maki practically open-mouth smiled at the famous response she heard. Sure it sounded off but maybe he had a cold was Maki's thoughts.

 _'Come to think of it, this looks nothing like the Santa-san in all the pictures.'_ Maki pondered. It took a while for her to come to a conclusion before she suddenly realised why he looked that way. _'Of course! He's just on a diet! I also bet his elves gave him that blonde hair, maybe he is trying out a new look? Are people not satisfied with how he looked before?'_ She thought, displeased with the treatment some people give him.

"Uh, S-Santa-san, I think you looked fine the way you were before... P-Please don't take those mean people's criticism too seriously..." She said, not acknowledging the small snicker behind her.

"H-Ho..." Santa said nervously in response, watching Nico cover her mouth with both of her hands, probably stifling her laughter. Eli doesn't even know what Nico is doing here anymore. Her girlfriends last childhood belief is on the line because of her and she is just laughing. Actually, Eli is pretty sure Nico laughed at all of the girl's beliefs. She swears Nico almost died from laughter when Maki revealed how she thought kids were made, and Maki was a doctor dammit.

That wasn't very harasho of Nico. Eli missed out on a last minute parfait night with Nozomi for this?

"Ah! How selfish of me!" Maki started, "I shouldn't keep you from delivering other people's presents!" She added, secretly hoping she'd get extra 'good girl' points for her kind reminder. As much as she wanted Santa to stay and to admire him out loud, she knew he had a job to do.

Maki walked up to Eli, turning her around and pushing her towards the fireplace before letting go, hoping she'd get the message.

She didn't by the way.

"Ho!" Eli said, taking that as her queue to leave. It wasn't until she saw that Nico had moved towards the middle of the doorway, blocking off the only exit that she realised the only other way out. 

_'They want me to climb the fucking chimney!?'_

Her grip on the presents sack tightened as she made the decision to look back a the fireplace and slowly approach it. She crouched down at the entrance and looked up, taking in how clean it was. Her mind was debating whether to think about the beating she'll give Nico later or the struggle she'll have climbing the chimney with both girls watching her. She settled on the thought of Maki's dedication on getting Santa to have the best experience delivering presents as possible, before crawling in and standing up in the somewhat wide fireplace, now motivated enough to start climbing.

Once she started, she found it hard to climb with just one hand because the other was busy holding the sack filled with empty boxes. She had managed to make it halfway up the chimney until her foot managed to slip off the side she was using to support herself. Eli quickly reached out to grab onto a brick that was stuck out a little to the side and sighed in relief at her save, thankful that she had went mountain climbing with Umi that one time or she would have probably panicked and fell, destroying even more of Maki's thoughts on Santa's stereotype.

She heard the sounds of little brick pieces hitting the floor of the fireplace soon after her slip up. "Are you okay up there Santa?" She heard Nico ask in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Ho ho ho!" Eli said cheerfully in response, but she was definitely not cheerful.

"I didn't realise Santa's vocabulary was so limited..." Nico said to Maki, referring to Santa's constant 'Ho'ing. Eli obviously heard and was irritated with Nico rubbing in her own personal failure of a plan to herself as if trying to pass the blame. She knew she probably sounded idiotic but what else was she supposed to say without blowing Santa's cover? Eventually during her self loathing, she convinced herself that honestly, Honoka would be proud, and that was all that mattered.

After a few seconds of struggling, Eli finally made it to the top of the chimney and she swung the sack that was on her back onto the roof as she climbed out of the chimney. The layer of snow was a good cushion for her pitiful ass to sit on and she decided that she should stay and lie there for a bit just to make sure Maki went back to bed so Eli could get back inside and change out of her ridiculous outfit.

As she lay there, she was rethinking her life choices and the befriending of Nico. Cancelling a parfait date was always heart breaking, but she had never felt like so much shit cancelling this one. Why can't she just decline being Nico's slave for once?

The start of snow falling brought her out of her self hatred as she felt numerous pieces land on her face and on the tip of her nose. Finally, she realised it was way past midnight and she should probably get some sleep or she'd feel like even more shit tomorrow. _'Perhaps Nozomi will allow me to vent to her later...'_ She pondered. _'What am I saying, of course she would! Nozomi is always understanding. Maybe I could buy her a parfait to make up for missing one today!'_ She decided, _'Yes that'll do...'_ Trying to take her mind off what had just happened.

Her mood was quickly weighing down on her eyelids and she decided that it had been long enough for the others to get back into their bed. She concluded that she should also get back to her own room and into the warm confinements of her own blankets to help keep the negative thoughts away. She stood up and admired her surroundings. The city in the distance was glowing, brightening up the no longer pitch black sky and filling it with spurs of a mainly red and green hue. She looked down at Maki's front garden, taking in the spruce tree entangled with multicoloured christmas lights, blinking slowly like fireflies. She glanced to the side, staring at the chimney before slowly bringing up a hand to her face, becoming instantly displeased.

Was she supposed to climb back down that?

\---

In the morning the trio was gathered around the table, eating a breakfast prepared by Nico. Eli was currently getting bombarded by Maki's words, telling her how she had just missed Santa visiting their house. The complaints about Santa not looking like he did in the pictures had her sweat dropping but Maki was completely convinced that she had seen Santa, so she wasn't too worried.

Eli had completely destroyed Maki's image of Santa, and she 100% blamed it on Nico. Maybe she should have played off being Mrs Claus instead? Eli still can't believe she did this just for three chocolate bars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you celebrate it, Merry christmas


	5. Tea or Coffee?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering, yes I did delete the previous chapters 3 and 4. idk I just didn't think they fit into the fic when I re-read them all.

Maki rounded the hospitals corner, gulping the last remains of her coffee in the disposable cup she held in one of her hands. The caffine did little to no good at keeping her awake any longer as she trudged through the corridors, trying to find the room her friend was in. She swiped her other arm over her mouth and grimaced at the bitter taste and cold feel of _something_ grudging down her throat. Yep, hospital coffee still tasted like shit. She'd have to ask Eli to change how they make it later.

Speaking of Eli, Maki was approaching the main office doors where the girl was supposedly stationed behind, working on the numerous files and papers that got sent her way everyday. Now that she thought about it, she never got to properly thank Eli for practically taking over the hospital and being responsible for all its duties just so Maki could focus on only being a doctor instead of busying herself with being both a business owner. Maybe she should thank her for that later as well. But that's not what Maki was here to do right now. Her shift had ended as it always did when Eli finished hers, and the two girls had always waited for each other near the entrance of the hospital so they could go home together. Maki had waited a whole 60 seconds before getting irritated at how much longer she'd need to wait. Eli had been late 3 days in a row now. She knew that it was a bit childish to get impatient, but Eli was hardly ever late.

"You know you could just call me for help sometimes if you're too busy." Maki started as she walked through the office door she had just opened, watching an Eli hunched over stacks of paper piles whip her head upwards in her direction.

"Huh? Maki? ...Oh, am I late again?" She asked, dropping her pen down on the desk and sitting up further in her chair, arching her back and stretching out her arms behind her. "Sorry, I was just taking care of some extra financial activity work. Technically I don't need to do it until next month, but I'd like to finish it sooner just to get it out the way."

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't waiting long." Maki replied, looking off to the side. "But as unbelievable as it sounds, I think Nico is getting sick of listening to herself on loop while waiting for us to come out." Maki added, crossing her arms at the thought.

"Oh right, she did say she'd finish practice earlier today huh?" Eli thought aloud, pushing her chair back from the table in front of her before slowly standing up. "Ouhhf... I think I have a massive cramp in my ass." She muttered, placing one hand on the table as she balanced herself so she could bend her body forward to stretch.

"Okay, I didn't need to know that." Maki responded, tossing her empty cup into the bin only after counting how much were already in there. "Jesus, how much did _you_ drink?"

" _Please_ , only about half of what you've consumed I'm sure." She chuckled.

The office door soon opened once again, and in stormed a rather annoyed looking Nico. 

"Are you guys done yet? I can only listen to myself for so long before I get too addicted with my own songs." Nico said, flicking her hair over her shoulders as she took off her sunglasses. 

Maki scoffed, "Just admit it, you're bored without us and your music isn't enough to satisfy you."

"Awh Maki, I missed you too!" Nico exclaimed, rushing over to her girlfriend before flinging her arms around her waist and smiling brightly up at her, completely ignoring whatever she had just said.

Maki clicked her tongue before bringing her own arms around Nico, "W-Whatever, I bet I missed you more though."

"Oh my god, we are _not_ having this conversation again." Nico stated, pulling back from Maki to grab her hand and drag her over to a still stretching Eli. "Now come on, I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be." She added, grabbing Eli's wrist and tugging both girls out the door and through the hospital corridors. "Some patients almost discovered my identity from my journey from the front desk to here alone."

"How'd they almost find out? Weren't you wearing your usual clown get-up when you came here?" Eli asked, only just balancing herself into a steady walk behind Nico after getting dragged.

"Of course I was! But the great Nico-Nii is gonna have to announce her presence at some point in the hour!" Nico declared, letting go of Eli's wrist to reach back into her pocket and flick her glasses back out, effectively opening them in the process and slipping them on.

"Wait, you're saying you told them it was you on purpose? Are you stupid or something?" Maki asked, her posture less graceful as she was yanked through the hallway.

"No, and technically no... They must have overheard me say my catch phrase on my way here because I saw them pointing at me, and they were smiling. Nico makes everyone smile." She proudly huffed.

"Or they were laughing." Maki suggested, "I mean do you really think any sane person would be doing that in public?"

"Jeez, whats up with you today?" Nico asked, "Someone spit in your coffee or something?"

"Its just been a long day, I'm sure." Eli joined in, "Right now I just wanna sleep." She added.

"You guys aren't sleeping until you've had something proper to eat. Did you guys even have anything other than breakfast today?" Nico asked, nearing the exit of the hospital. At not hearing any response other than a grunt, she decided to carry on, "Seriously, you guys are useless without me."

"Thanks Nico~" Eli responded, her tone of voice clearly sounding like she was about to yawn but attempted to hold it in just to be polite.

Maki was visibly less refined in her actions and had widely yawned at just the sight of somebody else sleeping at one of the waiting chairs in the reception.

"Close your mouth would you," Nico instructed, "You look like you've just walked in on Nozomi and Eli downing parfaits through their rear end."

"What!?" Eli asked from behind them, she trudged into a faster pace to catch up and look Nico in the eyes, "You saw that?" She questioned in a much quieter voice.

"Wait what. Are you serious?" Nico deadpanned, her face soon turning sour and disgusted at just the thought. She looked Eli back dead in the eyes and only just noticed the slight glint in her azure orbs and her raised lips before sighing out loud when Eli started chuckling to herself. "My god, Nozomi is such a bad influence on you I swear." Nico added, her response making Eli laugh harder.

"Haha, I was joking Nico. We would never do anything like that." Eli reassured, her laughter dying down as she briskly turned the corner out of the hospital's exit and now led their little group to the car park where she presumed Nico had parked the car in the spot she always did.

"Then _please_ tell that to Maki," Nico requested, turning her head to her now pale-faced girlfriend, "I think she missed the 'joke' part."

\---

"Hey Maki, could you wake Eli up?" Nico asked, unfastening her seat belt and looking back at her blonde friend currently slouched to the side in her seat at the back of the car, her eyes closed and mouth parted as she slept.

"No." Came Maki's blunt reply as she opened her side of the car door and stepped out.

"Oh my god, is being gay all you're good for?" Nico sighed, taking her car keys out and opening her own door before stepping out.

"Why is she asleep anyway? I'm pretty sure she had more coffee than even me, or at least judging it from all the ones in her office bin." Maki grumbled.

"Didn't you see all the chocolate images on the side of the cups? They were hot chocolates. Even _I_ could tell and I wasn't even in there long." Nico stated, moving around and over to the end of the car before opening up the boot.

"Oh." Maki uttered. "I thought they were coffee grains or something..."

"And you do surgery with those eyes?" Nico remarked, pulling a box from out of the back then closing it once she had placed it on the top of her car with a small thud, sighing slightly at the weight of it.

"Whats all that?" Maki asked, walking back over to Nico and inspecting the cardboard box wearily.

"I'm glad you asked!" Nico happily smiled, her eyes soon shining with excitement, "These are all the props and costumes that I used in that one concert with A-rise! I asked my manager if I could have something from that event as a souvenir, but she just told me I could take whatever I wanted since they won't be needing it anymore!" She beamed. 

The twinkle in Nico's eyes doesn't go unnoticed by even a delusional Maki, and the girl felt her lips curling upwards at how Nico could go on and on about the things she was so passionate about with the biggest smile on her face. She loved seeing Nico the happiest. "Alright," Maki chuckled, bringing her hand up to softly stroke Nico's head, "I'll take this up for you." She smiled, quickly pecking Nico's forehead before moving her attention to the box next to her as she started to slowly lift it up off the car and walk towards their apartment building, not noticing Nico's slightly flushed face as she moved away from her.

"Aww, aren't you guys just the cutest..." Nico whipped her head around directly to Eli from hearing the sound of her voice, she felt her cheeks grow incredibly more heated. Eli was sat there, resting her head on the back of her hand as she stared almost too smugly at Nico through the window of the car, her grin annoyingly mocking as if she was making it clear that she'd seen everything that happened.

"S-Shut up!" Nico stuttered, turning around and digging through her pockets to find her keys again. "Here, lock the car when you and your lazy ass is out would you." She said, placing her keys on the top of the car as she strutted away, wanting to cover her ears from the sound of Eli's laughter errupting inside the vehicle, but decided against it knowing it would just make the girl laugh more.

Nico hurried over to Maki who was climbing the stairs to reach the second floor. As she caught up, she gently snaked both her hands around one of Maki's arms. The redhead jumped slightly at the contact, "H-Hey, watch it! I could drop-" She started, but was cut off as she felt a pair of warm lips press against her cheek.

"Thanks Maki." Nico muttered quietly, before letting go of the now blushing girl and rushing over to their apartment door, unlocking it and practically running inside.

Maki stood frozen for a while as she stared at the door Nico disappeared behind. She muttered something shakily under her breath; something about Nico being annoying, before she slowly started to ascend up the stairs once more. However, a moment later she felt something cold touch the other side of her cheek. She turned to the side and saw Eli poking her lightly with her finger.

"How do you function when you're this red?" Eli asked, "Can you even think straight?" She chuckled, moving her hand away from the girls face to prevent her from growing even redder in case she fainted. Instead she moved past Maki, opening the apartment door again and holding it open for her to walk through. Maki grunted as she carried on dragging her feet through the door, giving a small 'thanks' to Eli as she passed her. She looked to the side at the mirror on the wall and her eyes widened slightly, noticing how her hair was a knotty mess in some areas and how a slight brown stain had somehow formed on her white hospital coat near her chest. She must have spilled her coffee again. She'd have to wash it later. She dreaded to think about her smell, she wouldn't want to gross Nico out later if she wasn't already.

She turned back to look at Eli, watching her locking the door, then catching her eyes as she turned around. "What's wron-"

"How do I smell?" She asked immedietly, moving up to Eli so she could smell for herself.

"Uhh, like coffee?" Eli answered, a confused look dawning her face at Maki's actions.

"Eli, I'm going to need some perfume if I'm gonna keep around Nico." Maki requested, her eyes determined as she looked into Eli's.

"H-Hah," Eli laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "I don't have any...?" She replied more as a question, as if saying the wrong thing could have resulted in Maki going silent.

"What? Not even Nozomi's?" She questioned, one of her brows raising at her own suggestion.

"Huh? Why would I have Nozomi's? I don't even see any at her own house. I always just assumed she bathed herself with tea bags or something." Eli responded. 

Maki wore a look between surprised and uninterested. But soon, she brightened up as an idea popped in her head. "Here, take this." Maki requested, shoving the box she held in her hands to Eli's as she rushed off further into the apartment. 

Eli stood confused for a moment as she held the box. She soon broke out of her mindless stance when she saw Maki rushing back to the hallway with a plastic container in her hands, but instead of going back to her, she went into her own room to the side and shut the door.

Eli heard the click of a lock a second later, but decided to ignore whatever Maki doing as she walked past her door and into the living room, spotting Nico rummaging through the fridge.

"Hey Nico, where do you want this?" She asked, watching Nico turn her head to her direction.

"Huh, I thought Maki was carrying that. Whatever- just put it in my room." Nico replied, turning back to the fridge. "You don't mind if we have something quick to eat do you?"

"I guess I don't mind, and I'm sure Maki is too tired to care, but Maki's in your room and I think shes locked it." Eli responded, the mentioning of being tired caused her to look away from Nico as she held back another yawn. Although she did get a little bit of sleep in the car ride home, it was only a 15 minute rest at tops so she was still feeling a little drowsy.

"Whats that girl up to..." Nico muttered quietly to herself, "...Alright then, just put it to the side of the door and I'll take it in once Maki unlocks it." She sighed.

As told, Eli had placed the box near the door to their room as she now waited at the dinner table for their little lunch to be made. Maki had finally exited her room after a while, looking much fresher than ever for someone so unbothered by their own appearance, and soon she sat on the seat next to Eli. The blonde girl could already smell a sweet and floral aroma coming from the redhead, immedietly knowing what she had done. But she kept that knowledge to herself as she smiled at the sight of watching a confused Nico dig through the cabinates, probably looking for the container they kept the tea bags in. Eli remembers there were still quite a few tea bags in that container and wanted to confront Maki about wasting them all, but it was okay though, she was sure Nico would scold her about it later when she found out how their shared bathroom stenched of green tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who knew writing a chapter would be so much harder when online schooling? Not me when I started writing this near the start of January. not really satisfied with it but I guess its ok


	6. Overworked

"Dammit you guys," Nico growled as she forcefully opened the hospitals office door, effectively gaining the attention of the two girl's sat at the desk, "This is the third time this week. Didn't I tell you idiots to take a break?"

"What do you mean? Our shift isn't even over ye- ...Oh wait," Maki started before she looked back at the time on her laptop, "Nevermind."

"You're an hour late." Nico stated, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor, "I mean who even wants to willingly stay overtime to do _even more_ work than they already have to?" She sighed, crossing her arms and eyeing the girls and their work intently, "And haven't you guys been working on those papers for days already?"

"Chill out," Eli started, "We're almost done anyway, we can probably finish it today if we carry on working for a bit longer." She assured, picking her pen back up and writing on the papers again.

Nico irritatingly clicked her tongue, "Unfortunately you're coming home, _now_. Get your asses moving."

"What? No," Eli stated, this time her eyes didn't leave the documents in front of her. "Like I said, we'll be done soon. Just a little bit longer." 

Maki had also gotten back to work, her writing messy, but still readable, as she finished scribbling her signature on one of the papers, her hand lifting it up and placing it onto a different, much larger pile. If Nico had to guess, it would be all the finished paperwork.

Nico sighed, "I didn't wanna have to do this but," She moved back to the door, swinging it open once more. "Come on in." 

The attention of the two people at the desk was once again taken away from their papers as they looked back at the door, confused as to what Nico was talking about.

"Oh, so _I_ was you're secret weapon then Nicocchi?" A familiar voice asked, the teasing tone was familiar to the whole trio, and Eli felt herself instantly sitting up straighter in her chair, her mind immediately forgetting the papers needing to be signed as she watched her one and only girlfriend walk through the doors.

"Oh be quiet. I thought I could convince them on my own." Nico huffed.

Nozomi chuckled, walking straight past Nico and to the desk where the two girls were sat. She watched as Maki dipped her head back down to carry on with her work, and a small smile etched her face when she saw her own girlfriend unmoving with her eyes glued to her figure.

"Heya Elichi!" Nozomi smiled, her usual warm smile. She reached the side of Eli's chair and peered down at all the papers. "Wow... Thats a lot of work you've done already." She commented, one of her hands moved to gently rest on Eli's shoulder and she shifted her eyes to meet the sapphire ones still staring straight at her. "And ya look like you've been working all day. You should take a break ya know? I mean I wouldn't want my _girlfriend_ in a poor state tomorr-"

"You're right Nozomi!" Eli cut her off and stood up, careful not to hit her in the process. "I can finish this tomorrow." Her own gaze staying with Nozomi's as they both shared a smile. Eli was now completely convinced that she didn't need to do anymore work. If Nozomi said so, then her confirmation was all that was needed for her to stop.

The statement made Maki look up from her work once again, a displeased look smearing her face at what she was listening to. "Seriously," Maki shook her head, "You're so hopeless..." She dropped her pen, feeling too betrayed to carry on, knowing it would be useless to carry on working if she was left by herself.

"You should know by now she's a total lost cause." Nico joined in, her response irking Maki to reply back.

"If you'd just given us a few more minutes we could be done with this by now." She exasperatedly sighed. "Then you wouldn't have to worry about chasing us up for a while."

"Hmph." Nico looked away and crossed her arms, "Your work is gonna be the death of you one day. You should stop spending so much of your free time here." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maki asked, organising all her completed sheets together so she could give Eli them back.

"Oh she just wants to spend more time with you Maki-chan!" Nozomi interrupted, her attention shifting from Eli to the other girl's conversation. "You should have seen how bored she was when we were waiting in the car."

"Hey! I was _not_ bored. I was just simply distracting myself is all." Nico remarked.

"I mean sure! If you staring at your lockscreen of Maki is called a distraction, then you were doing plenty of that." Nozomi smirked, watching Maki hurriedly shoving the papers into Eli's hands and noticing how Nico's ears burned a bright red colour.

"J-Just stop talking already!" Nico stuttered, the sounds of Nozomi giggling urged her to start trudging out the room.

As the rest followed behind her, they didn't see Eli bring the left over papers she needed to finish into her bag, they were all too busy immersed in their own conversations, or more like under the teasing of one Nozomi Tojo.

"Oh yeah Nico, before I forget," Eli started, leaning forward from the back seat of the car, "Thanks for that packed lunch you gave us. It was a really nice change. Right Maki?"

Maki hummed in agreement, "Way better than that slump of shit they give us at the cafeteria."

Nico chuckled, "Well of course mine's better! Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, practically anything is better than the hospital's food." Maki added, Nico's grunt of protest was falling on deaf ears as she heard Eli speak.

"Hey! I'm working on it okay?" Eli sighed, slumping back into her seat and pulling on Nozomi's waist to get the girl to lean against her again. "Why do you think the papers are taking so long."

"Awh," Nozomi sounded, leaning over and pressing her lips against Eli's cheek, "I'm sure ya hard work'll be noticed soon Elichi!"

Eli felt the side of her lips creep upwards into a slight smile, "You really think so?"

"I do! Oh, and! Speaking of food, we're having yakiniku tonight!" Nozomi beamed, eyeing the shopping bags next to them filled with all the ingredients she would need to start cooking. Her head came back to rest on Eli's shoulder. "I've not had it in _ages_."

"Hm? Why not? Have you been too busy to go shopping or something?" Eli asked, her head moving down to lie on top of Nozomi's.

"No, no, its not that. Its just that Rin's been sneaking a few snacks she's not supposed to be eating behind Umi's back, and now that she's found out, Umi's stopping us from eating any unhealthy foods for a while." Nozomi sighed, "I mean I don't see why the punishment has to involve me, but thats the reason she's giving us."

"Hah," Nico laughed, "Knowing you, you've probably reached her last straw with all the teasing, and now she's just taking advantage of the situation and having you both be punished at the same time. I mean fainting a couple times a day can't be healthy. I don't get how she hasn't left you two yet."

"Don't be mean Nicocchi! She loves us really!" Nozomi pouted, her silent displeased mood going unnoticed by all but Eli.

"Don't be sad Nozomi, I'm sure Nico didn't mean that." She said, comfortingly sliding her hand up and down her girlfriends hip as she carried on in a much quieter voice, "I'll let _you_ feed _me_ the yakiniku later if you stop sulking."

"Really?" Nozomi asked, her mood lighting up at the suggestion, "You won't be too rough right?"

"I'd be nothing lesser than gentle when it comes to you." Eli spoke softly, moving her other hand to softly caress the side of Nozomi's face as she looked down lovingly into her eyes.

"Hey wait, we _are_ still talking about actually eating the food _normally_ right?" Nico sickeningly asked.

"Can we pull over real quick?" Maki urged soon after, swinging her hands over her mouth, "I think I need to throw up."

"You feeling better now?" Eli asked Maki once she had joined her at the dinner table, waiting for Nozomi and Nico to finish preparing everything.

"No thanks to you," Maki grumbled, receiving a generally confused 'hmm?' from Eli in response. "By the way, I've been thinking." She started, "I want to get quicker and more efficient at doing surgeries so I can get them over and done with faster, so I'm thinking about revising my books more in my free time. What do you think?"

"Well, I mean sure, if thats what you want to do then go ahead and do it. If you're worried about me and my work, you shouldn't be. I can probably get it finished and done with tonight by myself if I really try." Eli stated, taking in the look of confusion on Maki's face, "Yes I took the work home with me, but anyway are you sure you don't wanna spend more of that free time with Nico instead?"

Maki shrugged, "I mean its not as if anything is changing, I'll just be reading more." She replied, soon moving her sight to the two other girls coming back from the kitchen.

"What are you two lively people talking about in here?" Nozomi asked as she walked over to them, holding a few plates in her hands. She started placing some down in front of Maki and the empty seat next to her.

"Just about how amazing our girlfriends are!" Eli answered wholeheartedly, smiling at the feel of Nozomi's hand swiping along one of her shoulders to her other as she passed by to place the other plates down.

By the end of dinner, everyone had finished satisfied. Nozomi and Nico had volunteered to wash up, with a lot of resistance from Eli and Maki (mostly Eli), saying they shouldn't have their guest cleaning up, but stopped when they brought up how they should both rest since they had been working overtime for a few days in a row now, in which they both eventually agreed to.

Instead of sleeping however, Eli found herself fishing out the unfinished documents from her bag as she sat down on the chair at her desk. She had immedietly gotten to work as soon as she'd clicked her pen. She hadn't even registered how much time had passed until she reached the last document. Her motivation was somewhat in the negatives, but this was the last one, then she'd never have to look at any financial papers for another good few weeks. Before her pen even made it back to the paper, she heard the click of a door closing. Her attention swiftly moved to Nozomi, who was standing by the door, eyeing her with a raised brow.

"I thought I told ya to rest." She sighed, strolling over to behind where Eli was sitting. She put both her hands on each of Eli's shoulders and looked down.

"But," Eli moved her head back, looking up into Nozomi's soft teal eyes. "Last one..." She uselessly pleaded, pointing to the last sheet of paper on the desk.

"But tomorrow," Nozomi replied with a gentle smile, slowly dipping her head down to kiss Eli's nose. "You need to know when to stop working Elichi."

Eli huffed, she looked back down at her sheet and grabbed her pen once more, "Just give me 5 more minutes, I can finish it-" She started, but was cut off as Nozomi yanked her chair out and away from her desk. Not even a second later, Nozomi swung her leg over the surprised Eli's lap, effectively straddling her.

"Ya know, if your work is gonna keep distracting you from rest," She leaned forward, their faces only inches away, "Then let _me_ distract you instead." She proposed, her tone suggesting as she closed the distance between them, capturing Eli's lips.

Nico knocked twice on the door before opening it up. One of her hands was occupied with carrying a glass of water she was thinking about giving Maki before they slept.

"Hey Maki, do you want this?" She asked, turning her sight to her girlfriend hunched over something at her desk. Maki didn't appear to respond to Nico's question, so instead, she moved over to her, peering over her shoulder to see what exactly she was looking at. "Wait are you seriously reading a sciency book when I told you to sleep!?" She questioned in a much louder voice, successfully stirring a dozing Maki up in the process. 

"Wha- What?" Maki jumped, catching Nico looking at her intently woke her up even more. "Could you quieten down a bit, you're too loud." She whined, rubbing her eyes as she attempted to look back down at the words in her book.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Nico complained, placing the glass down on the desk before grabbing Maki's book and striding over to the bathroom door, opening it up and practically throwing it inside before she shut the door again. "You're not to enter this room until I say it's okay to do so!"

"What!?" Maki stood up from her chair, frowning directly at Nico. "I need that!"

"Well too bad! I told you to sleep!" She retorted, rolling her eyes at Maki's persistence on staying awake and working.

"Huh? Then what if I want a piss?" She asked, feeling annoyed at how Nico was acting.

"Then use Eli's bathroom." Nico replied simply.

"You know Nozomi's with Eli right? I don't wanna walk in on them shoving parfaits through their _honkers_." She grimaced at the thought.

"Oh my god, that was a jo- You know what, then just go outside in the bushes or something." She sighed, thinking to herself how Maki's determined insistance was becoming a somewhat tiresome trait. Maybe she should stop influencing her.

"Well what if I don't want to go outside?" She grumbled.

"Then piss your pants! You know how to wash them yourself by now right!?" Nico huffed, her patience reducing little by little as the conversation continued to drift. The silence after her last sentence had her sighing for what felt like then tenth time that day. "You're completely useless, you know that?" She muttered more to herself, stepping back over to Maki. "But this isn't the point, I thought I told you to rest a little- and not at your desk."

"I don't even see the problem," Maki started, averting her eyes to the side, "It's just a little extra work, don't worry about it."

"But I do worry about it! You know the last time we had a date was about 3 weeks ago right?" She asked, lifting both her hands up and slapping them against Maki's cheeks, recieving a slight yelp in response. "I miss hanging out with you Maki! I wanna be with you more, but instead you always insist on doing more work!" She complained, grabbing a hold of her cheeks and mushing them around. "We barely get to see each other anymore you're so busy!" That was a lie, they literally live together, but Nico felt the need to exaggerate because of Maki's earlier resisting.

Maki took a hold of Nico's hands that were currently squishing her face together, and gently pried them away. "Y-You really mean that?" She shyly asked. Hearing Nico spill out her feelings so openly, but still sounding like she was fed up with how Maki was acting, made her realise how ignorant she was being with everything around her. She looked down in guilt, tightening her grip around Nico's hands.

"I do." Nico answered honestly. "You're gonna start becoming Eli if you carry on being the workaholic you currently are." She chuckled, "Speaking of her, that girl needs to take a break and have a Kit-kat already or something, she's twice as bad as you when it comes to work." She took her hands back and went to get the glass of water. "But first, here. You can make it up to me by starting to look after yourself."

Maki smiled at the suggestion and took the glass, "Right," She agreed, happily drinking it as quickly as she could and sighing in relief at the fresh taste. "I'm sorry, I'll tone down my workload a lot more from now on." She said softly, moving to plant a kiss on Nico's temple. "I'll put this away then join you in bed after, sound okay?"

"Sure! But come back straight away. I don't want you getting sidetracked." She added, turning around to start rummaging through her closet.

After washing up, Maki silently regretted downing the water so quickly, she really needed to pee. Before she reached back into her room however, she stopped in front of it, her hand hovering over the handle as she thought back to how she wasn't allowed in the bathroom unless she had Nico's permission. Without thinking, she swiveled around on her foot, heading straight towards Eli's room. Once she opened the door- she immediately shut it at the one second glimpse she managed to get inside the room. She had slammed the door shut so fast, she was unsure if the people inside would care, but she was unwilling to find out. She made a straight and determined line to the front door. Looks like Nico would have to wait a little longer. The bushes it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of NozoEli in this felt short. Maybe in the next chapter I'll increase the amount of parfaits to get em going.


End file.
